Inventor, philanthropist, billionaire, and titan of industry Elon Musk unveiled a 57-page plan yesterday for a super-speed train that would take passengers between LA and San Francisco in just 30 minutes.

But there’s a lot more to know about the Hyperloop — a high-speed train-in-a-tube that makes all other high-speed trains look like they’re stuck in first gear — including the current fastest train in the world in regular operation, the 268 mph Shanghai maglev train, which I’ve personally ridden.

You could all read those 57 pages — or scan these Cole’s Notes.

The basic Hyperloop concept in a nutshell:

People-carrying capsules running through a long metal tube

28-person capacity

40 total capsules in activity at rush hour

Almost a cross between the pneumatic tube delivery systems in old buildings and a Japanese bullet train

Capsules float on cushions of air like hockey pucks

Tube is elevated on 25,000 concrete pylons

Gallery: Gallery

The Hyperloop’s speed and initial routes:

Up to 760 miles per hour, or Mach .91 at the tube’s air pressure

Slowing to 300 mph for turns

Compares to most airplanes’ speed of 550 mph

At Hyperloop speeds, travel time from L.A. to San Francisco is 30 minutes

Additional cities to be added later: San Diego, Sacramento, and Fresno

Costs:

Passenger capsules: $1.3 million each

Car and cargo capsules: $1.5 million each

Stations: $125 million each

Tube, pillars, and stations: $4 billion, or $5.31 billion for a larger tube with higher capacity

Total cost: $6.1 billion

Comparison: the proposed California High Speed Rail project is estimated at $68.4 billion

Air, pressure, and pumping:

Atmospheric pressure inside the tube: 17 percent of the pressure of Mars, which is already only 1 percent of Earth at sea level

Equivalent to the air pressure on earth at 150,000 feet, four times higher than most airplanes fly

There’s still too much pressure against the capsules, so each capsule pumps air from the front to the back via a compressor — and uses some of it to float on like a hockey puck

Power:

All power is provided by solar panels on the top of the 381-mile-long tube

Energy cost per passenger: less than 100 megajoules (about 3/4 of a gallon of gas)